


Now You See Me

by Merlinites



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Body Image, Kissing, M/M, Shyness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-24
Updated: 2014-03-24
Packaged: 2018-01-16 09:54:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1343215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merlinites/pseuds/Merlinites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Modern Merthur story. No one has ever seen Merlin completely naked before. Is it time to change that?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Now You See Me

No one has ever seen my body before. Which is why when Arthur tried to pull off my shirt a few seconds ago, I pulled away from him. Now, looking into his hurt blue eyes, I cannot figure out how to explain this to him.

“Do you not want this, Merlin?”

I bite my lip, shaking my head. “No. I mean yes. I do want this, Arthur. God, I want this _so much_.”

Arthur leans towards me. “Then why do you pull away when we get to this place? Every time? Do you not want to go that far? Because I can wait. I promise.”

I close my eyes, and breathe in deeply. I don’t know to say it. I don’t know how to tell him. That no one has ever seen me before. And how it terrifies me.

“Arthur. I – I – I want this. I’m not afraid. I want to touch you; I want to do everything with you.”

His hands are on my hips now, and he’s pulling me towards him. My heart rate fastens, and my breathing quickens. Arthur notices the change in me.

“Merlin. Shit. You’re shaking. What is it?”

I close my eyes again. “No one.”

“No one?” I can hear the worry in his voice.

“No one has ever seen me. Seen me without any … seen _me_.”

Silence. I open my eyes. Arthur stands before me, mouth slightly ajar and eyes wide.

“No one has seen you naked?” he asks me, his voice quiet.

I nod, looking away in embarrassment. God, I am so juvenile. Arthur was my first kiss, damn it. He’s my first everything. And I know I am not his, and the pain that causes within me is unbearable. I want to be his everything.

“Merlin. Holy shit. You – you’re so _freaking adorable_ ,” he laughs.

I open my mouth to protest, but he kisses it.

“Merlin, shut up. I don’t care that no one has seen you. It makes me feel special.”

Heat rushes to my cheeks. He doesn’t need this to make him special. He’s more special than any human in the world. And I am almost certain he knows it, too.

His fingers tug on the hem of my shirt again, his eyes questioning. I nod, and then the garment is on the floor. Arthur lets his eyes roam over me, and it feels like my whole body is on fire. Does he like what he sees? I know my body is childish. For a man of twenty years of age, I still look sixteen. Unlike Arthur, who looks like a greek god.

His fingers reach towards me, trailing around my collarbone down down down to the expanse of skin just above my waistband. I let out a shuddering breath.

“Now these,” he says softly, tugging at my jeans.

I feel the button pop against my skin, and then I hear the zipper go down. My chest is rising and falling in rapid succession now. I cannot help it.

Arthur kneels before me, tugging my jeans down until they’re in a pool at my feet. His hand closes around one of my knees, and lifts it up; removing my foot from the leg of my jeans. He does the same with the other leg, and then all I wear are my boxers.

He kisses my left hip, underneath my navel, and then my right hip. His lips are at the perfect height for this when he is kneeling. My mind wanders to what other things he could do on his knees.

Before my imagination can run wild, his fingers hook in the elastic waistband of my boxers. And then he is pulling them down, and lifting my feet again. I am naked now. He sees me.

“Now you see me,” I whisper.

Arthur rises to his feet again, pulling me flush against him.

“And I have never seen anything more perfect in my entire life.”

I know he is serious. Arthur is always serious.

I swallow and lick my lips. His eyes watch me greedily.

“Your turn?” I ask.

He steps away, and nods at me. “ _Your_ turn,” he smirks.

I gulp. He laughs. Jerk.

I step towards him, reaching out to the buttons of his shirt. Slowly, so slowly, I undo them one by one – each making a satisfying little popping sound. I try not to look at the teases of his flesh that I can see as I make my way down the buttons of his shirt. Only when I have pushed it from his shoulders do I really allow myself to take him in.

I’ve seen him half naked before, of course. Whenever he can be, he’s half naked. Says it makes him feel more at one with the earth, or some other bullshit. I just think he likes the looks he gets from both sexes whenever he hasn’t got a shirt on. I certainly like the view.

But it does not compare in the slightest to what I see now. It’s completely different, now that he’s showing me in this intimate way. I trace every muscle of his torso with my hands, stopping every now and again to mark out a shape with my fingertips. His breath hitches when I do this. I make a note to myself to not forget how this affects him.

My hands reach his sweatpants, and I suddenly know that there are no underpants under there. I look up into his eyes, and they are burning. I quickly lower my gaze again. Taking a deep breath, I pull the pants down, lowering myself with them. I lift each of his legs, just as he did with mine, and then we are both completely bare.

I rise to my feet again, blushing profusely.

Arthur smiles reassuringly. “This isn’t so bad now, is it, Merlin?”

I shake my head, looking at the ceiling.

“Why aren’t you looking at me?” he asks.

I glance at him briefly. “I _am_ looking at you.”

He huffs. “You are such a liar, Merlin, and you’re absolutely terrible at it.”

His hand reaches towards me, and I hold it between both of mine. He pulls backwards slowly, towards the bed. My heart starts up again.

Gently, he pushes me down, and I shuffle up the mattress until the pillows are beneath my head. I stare at Arthur standing at the foot of the bed, finally letting myself drink him in.

He is so incredibly beautiful. I cannot believe I waited this long to see him like this, to know him like this. I have been blind all this time.

Arthur is suddenly on the bed, crawling his way towards me. All I can hear is my own heavy breathing.

When his face is hovering above mine, he says “Merlin, keep calm. I’ll take this slowly.”

And then his lips are on my forehead, and then my nose, and then my lips, my chin, my jaw. My neck. My collarbone. My shoulder. My chest, my stomach, my navel. My hip. The inside of my thigh. The back of my knee. My ankle. His lips are everywhere, and my body exists only for his lips. When he kisses me _there_ , I almost explode with ecstasy. He makes his way back up to my face.

He grins. “Now, that wasn’t so bad was it?”

I sigh deeply. “No.”

“Did you like it?” he teases.

I nod.

“I don’t hear you,” he sings.

“Yes, Arthur, you shit. It was wonderful.”

He smiles. “That’s more like it.”

Arthur’s thumbs are making circles on my hips, and his fingers lay beneath me. I lift my hips upwards in an effort to bring myself closer to him. He raises one eyebrow, and tightens his grip.

“Well, well, someone’s eager.”

I narrow my eyes at him in a glare, and try to wriggle away. His strong hands hold me in place.

“You’re not getting away that easily, _Mer_ lin.”

I wriggle again, half-heartedly. And then he is pulling me tight against him, and I feel his skin against mine everywhere. I know, now. I know that this is all I will ever need. All I will ever want for.

His lips are pressing against my neck.

“Arthur,” I start.

“Mmmm?” he mumbles against my skin.

“I never want anyone else to see me.”

He raises his head, looking into my eyes piercingly.

“And I’ll never let you go long enough for that to happen.”

I kiss him, pressing my lips against his, hoping against hope that he understands that I really mean those words. He is my only.

The passion overtakes us, and then we are moving against each other, reaching for more of each other, and crying out. I have never felt like this before, and I know I will never again – not if it is without Arthur. My body is his, and only his to see, to know. To own.

At the height of his climax, I kiss his jaw.

“I love you, Pendragon.”

He shudders his release.

“I don’t think I need to tell you the answer to that,” he says, drawing me near.

I press my back against his chest, and his arms curl around me. I know that I will never tire of this. I know that I will be content with this for the rest of my life.

On the precipice of sleep, I feel his lips against my ear.

“I love you too,” he breathes.


End file.
